The Legacy Issue

What We’re Listening to: Black Belt Eagle Scout Champions Indigenous Resilience

photo of Black Belt Eagle Scout artist KP, a Portland–based Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer-songwriter with bangs and long dark hair, wearing a black knit top and silver turquoise jewelry as they stand outside in front of a green marsh and forest
by Rachel Charlene Lewis
December 10, 2021 at 4:26pm
“I come from a family and a tribe that really respects our land and our water. I wasn’t seeing that respect from capitalists, the [Obama] administration, and this very colonial [system]. I don’t say “Indians never die” in the song, but that name came to me when I wrote it. I want us to feel resilient.”
headshot of “Belly of the Beast” director Erika Cohn, a white woman with dark brown wavy hair and light eyes, wearing a leather jacket and hoop earrings, smiling in front of a brown textured background

What We’re Watching: “Belly of the Beast” Uncloaks a Vile Prison Practice

by Evette Dionne
December 10, 2021 at 3:36pm
Across the United States, incarcerated people are experiencing medical malpractice as a continuation of the country’s legal eugenics policies from the ’40s and ’50s. People with wombs are being sterilized—given partial and full hysterectomies—for routine reproductive concerns ranging from severe... Read more »
A worried-looking asylum-seeking mother from El Salvador, her 3-year-old daughter, and her 2-month-old baby wait in the early morning cold on the Gateway International Bridge in Matamoros, Mexico, to attend their immigration hearing

Objective Harm: Bad Immigration Reporting Worsens Bad Immigration Policy

by Tina Vasquez
December 3, 2021 at 1:38pm
Bad immigration reporting leads to bad immigration policy. Read more »
a colorful illustration by Catarina Bessell using black and white cutouts of Maya Rudolph, Radha Blank, and Sanaa Lathan, with different floral and plant shapes surrounding them on a turquoise background

Singleminded: The New Rom-Com Heroines Go Solo

by Joshunda Sanders
December 2, 2021 at 3:23pm
“Lonely, desperate, and bitter women who continually select broken partners have been an onscreen mainstay for as long as I can remember.” Read more »
an illustration by Brooklyn White of an outstretched Black hand with gold bracelets, gold rings, and long red nails, on a neon green background, holding three Telfar bags in different sizes, one in pink, one in blue, and one in brown

Survival of the Fits: Black Fashion Has Always Been Liberatory

by Brooklyn White
November 19, 2021 at 4:59pm
Black-owned brands not only serve their communities but also fill a need. “We’ve always had to create our own avenues because we were not thought of as the shopper or the buyer,” Nandi Howard, associate fashion editor at “Essence” magazine and “Bitch” contributor, says. Read more »
a blonde silicone sex doll sits on a bed in a purple-lit room, in front of a glowing TV screen, looking off to the side towards an open door

Silicone Sham: Will Sex-Doll Brothels Change the Future of Sex Work?

by Naseem Jamnia
November 8, 2021 at 3:47pm
Aura Dolls, advertised as a brothel, promised clients a “realistic sensual experience with a girl who is made just for you.” Read more »
an illustration of restaurant critic Soleil Ho, an Asian woman with short brown hair, in glasses, green earrings, and red lipstick. She is holding a menu while standing in front of a red checkered pattern surrounded by different plates of food

Chef’s Kiss: Soleil Ho Doesn’t Want to Be the First and Only

by Bani Amor
June 22, 2021 at 11:29am
Her journey is less about accolades and more about ensuring she isn’t “the only one” in the notoriously exclusive food and restaurant space. Read more »
screenshot of Amanda Arcuri as Lola in “Degrassi: Next Class” (2017), a white girl with short blue hair, sitting in front of a camera, wearing a pink sweater with various patches, two of which say “No… Yes!!” and “Summer Breeze.”

Accidents Still Happen: Revisiting “Degrassi’s” Infamous Abortion Episode

by Marina Watanabe
June 11, 2021 at 10:57am
The N refused to air the episode for several years. Read more »
cropping of a black and white portrait sketch of a Black woman with short hair, her features are more detailed in the center of her face, while the top of her hair, chin, and neck are lightly outlined

Let Us Live: What Does Loving Black Women Really Look Like?

by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh
April 21, 2021 at 11:33am
What would it be like to celebrate Black women, not just as a performance or a trend? Without using them as a mascot for a movement. Without relying on them to save this country. Read more »
an illustration by Tara Anand of a South Asian Gen Z kid holding up their phone and their parent reading a newspaper as they sit next to each other on a couch giving each other the side-eye while the world burns outside the window behind them.

Boomer to Zoomer: Grim Generational Relations Aren’t An Accident

by Mary Retta
March 22, 2021 at 1:29pm
There is only one winner in a generation war, and it’s not millennials or boomers or Gen Z—it’s capitalism. Read more »
a purple, pink, and yellow mixed-media portrait of Queen Latifah, a fat Black woman, with painted strokes and symbols featuring a black and white photo by Al Pereira. She wears a tall weaved headdress, matching jacket, and her finger by her mouth

Her House: Queen Latifah Recreated the Rom-Com in Her Image

by Cate Young
March 17, 2021 at 9:00am
Queen Latifah’s oeuvre demonstrates that satisfying Black rom-coms for fat women are possible, even if Hollywood is resistant to making them. Read more »

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